Methods and apparatus related to arthroscopic osteochondral transplantation for repairing chondral defects are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,196, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, involves autograft transplantation using matched graft harvesters and recipient site harvesters, in the form of tubes with collared pins, to create and transplant donor graft osteochondral cores into correspondingly sized recipient sockets.
Although the above-described procedure is a significant improvement over prior art techniques for osteochondral transplantation, it is difficult to access defects on the tibial plateau using donor and recipient harvesters, as required in the technique of the '196 patent.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide apparatus and methods for creating the recipient site socket from the inside out, i.e., using a retrograde technique. It would also be desirable to provide a technique for inserting the replacement osteochondral core or implant in a retrograde manner to obviate inserting a harvester into the joint.